The "Middle East and Terrorism" Blog was created in order to supply information about the implication of Arab countries and Iran in terrorism all over the world. Most of the articles in the blog are the result of objective scientific research or articles written by senior journalists.

From the Ethics of the Fathers: "He [Rabbi Tarfon] used to say, it is not incumbent upon you to complete the task, but you are not exempt from undertaking it."

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Thursday, May 26, 2016

Aiming at the heart of Syria - Dr. Ephraim Herrera

by Dr. Ephraim Herrera

In the annals of Islam, Alawites are
perceived as heretics, idol worshippers, informants and collaborators
with the enemies of Islam. For Islamic State, the thrust of its war is
against Shiite Islam and its emissary on earth, Iran.

This
week, for the first time, the Islamic State group was able to terrorize
the heart of the Alawite government stronghold in Syria. Over 150 people
were killed in a string of suicide attacks in the coastal cities of
Tartus and Jableh.

The savagery of the
attacks was evident in the choice of targets: One of the terrorists
chose to blow himself up in a hospital emergency ward, the other at a
central bus station. The justification for these horrific acts was that
the Alawites "must experience the taste of death that Muslims have
already tasted due to the bombings of Muslim cities by Russian planes
and the planes of [Syrian President Bashar] Assad."

To this point, Russian
and Syrian planes have bombed some 15 medical facilities. In February,
when they were kind enough to grant 15 minutes of grace between bombing
runs, they hit a hospital sponsored by Doctors Without Borders, taking
out first response medics along the way. As a result of this grisly
tit-for-tat, nearly half the Syrian population lacks access to any form
of medical treatment.

Beyond the obvious
geopolitical interests of Russia and the Western coalition, the brunt of
the fighting has essentially been between the Alawite minority, which
controls Syria despite comprising a mere 10% of the population, along
with its Shiite Iranian patron, and the Sunni majority that represents
some 80% of the population. In the annals of Islam, Alawites are
perceived as heretics, idol worshippers, informants and collaborators
with the enemies of Islam. For Islamic State, the thrust of its war is
against Shiite Islam and its emissary on earth, Iran.

Islamic State -- as
evidenced by a regional assessment that appeared in the group's in-house
journal in January -- sees Shiite Islam as a form of hereticism, with
an integral Jewish aspect. For Islamic State, as for many Sunni clerics,
Shiite Islam was established by a Jew who converted to Islam, Abdallah
Ibn Saba, who lived in the time of Islam's founder, the Prophet
Muhammad. They believe Saba was responsible for the murder of the third
caliph, Othman, and that he established the Shiite variation to
exacerbate the internal war between Muslims, with the goal of destroying
Islam. Islamic State, therefore, considers it a religious duty to
annihilate the Alawites and eradicate them from Syria's coastal region,
from where it believes Islam's global domination will sprout. In the
second phase, the Shiite heretics will be targeted, followed by the
detested Jews.

Islamic State is
enduring the super powers' aerial bombardment and is even carrying out
deadly attacks, not just in the heart of the Alawite strongholds in
Syria, but in Iraq, Sinai, Africa, France, Belgium, the United States
and more. Indeed, Islamic State is certainly up to its neck in its war
of survival against the "Crusaders" and their aerial attacks, and in its
war to topple the Assad regime. The Jews, and Israel, however, remain a
primary target. Terrorist attacks against Jewish targets abroad, such
as at the Hypercacher kosher market in Paris and the Jewish Museum in
Brussels, can attest to this.

Dr. Ephraim Herrera is the author of "Jihad -- Fundamentals and Fundamentalism."Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=16209 Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.